Wireless Extenders/Boosters

Hi all,

New here! Looks like you have a great site with lots of helpful and fun information! If you don't mind, I have a question....

My husband works in a steel building (auto body shop) and his cell phone gets no reception whatsoever in there. It doesn't even register when a call has been missed. Does anyone here know if an extender or booster would solve this problem for us? I have no idea about these things.

TIA!

ETA: I should mention that we have Cingular service and I posted it here thinking it was a question related to service/reception. And come to think of it, I have a hard time using the cell phone in other buildings as well.

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Susie welcome to CPF...

if you're talking about those stickers that claim to improved siganl strength please do not waste your money on that.....

now if your'e talking about the real antennas that you install outside your house or building then yes they do work but you're looking at spending hundreds of dollars...

Thanks for your reply, Tony. Sorry it took me so long to get back here. I was talking about the antennas. Yikes on the hundreds of dollars! I'm just so frustrated that I cannot call my husband while he's at work.

Thanks again.

Susie have you considered using a different carrier? don't know where your location is but i'm sure there's a carrier that might serve you better, have you tried a different carrier in the past?

Hi Tony.

No, we've not tried a different carrier. We live in southeast Columbus, OH. I'm wondering if *any* of them would work in a steel building? Do you know?

Plus, we're in a contract with Cingular. I think we're stuck, aren't we?

If you call Cingular and explain in detail how their service is not usable at your house and say something like the reason you got a cell phone was to replace your home line you may be able to be let out of your contract w/o paying the ETF (early termination fees) just ask to talk to a supervisor if the customer service rep will not help, worth a try...

now as far as getting signal in buildings with steel walls, well thats difficult with any carrier but there are some that work better than others like Sprint & Verizon since they are CDMA carriers and tend to penetrate buildings better than GSM carriers i.e. Cingular & T-Mobile....

So cost aside where can a person get the antenna-booster-amplifier and does it work?

Thanks for the info, Tony! I didn't realize about the carriers and their differences. We will look into a non-gsm carrier.

Originally Posted by Susie

Thanks for the info, Tony! I didn't realize about the carriers and their differences. We will look into a non-gsm carrier.

You're welcome Susie..good luck.

Tony is right on with that one... We used to use a GSM carrier but switched to Verizon when they "turned on" towers near home... his old phone barely registered in his office (in a steel building - car dealership!) but he gets a full signal with his Motorola v710 on Verizon's CDMA network

now if your'e talking about the real antennas that you install outside your house or building then yes they do work but you're looking at spending hundreds of dollars...

Hi! I am back with the same type of question. Stuff came up after I had posted here before and we were unable to make any changes/purchases. We're ready now, though. Question for you. I just called Radio Shack and they told me they have an antenna that goes on top of the building and that you have to run wire down through the building to where my husband's phone is and the phone has to be hooked up to the wire in order for it to work. It's $34. Okay, doesn't having a wire defeat the purpose of having a wireless phone?? lol Anyway, does this sound right (the configuration)?

TIA!

Originally Posted by Susie

Hi! I am back with the same type of question. Stuff came up after I had posted here before and we were unable to make any changes/purchases. We’re ready now, though. Question for you. I just called Radio Shack and they told me they have an antenna that goes on top of the building and that you have to run wire down through the building to where my husband’s phone is and the phone has to be hooked up to the wire in order for it to work. It’s $34. Okay, doesn’t having a wire defeat the purpose of having a wireless phone?? lol Anyway, does this sound right (the configuration)?

TIA!

The purpose of a wireless phone is to get phone service when you are away from regular phones, or at least that was the way it was started.
So all you are doing is having your husband use his his cell phone at bit more like a regular phone. And if you want cheap reception inside a steel building that is the way you have to go.
By the way, it is doubtful that you can get any cell phone carrier inside a steel building. The steel reflects the signals, no matter who the carrier is.
GSM or CDMA, it is all high frequency radio waves and they are reflected by steel walls.

The antenna that radioshack is telling you about is one of a variety of antennaes found here World's Best Performing Cellular Amplifiers and Antennas - Smart Technology™

You can invest more to put an amplifier/repeater in at your hubby's workplace - but I figure it would cost $500-$600 to put one in my home. NOT worth it for work!!

Have your hubby ask around at work - does ANYONE get service in the building? If someone does then switch to that carrier - you may find yourself switching phones during that initial 14 day period to find the one with the best reception. But it really could be an issue of tower placement and the signal not making it through the building's construction.

Thanks for your replies.

Yes, the other guys get reception. I believe they have either Verizon or Sprint/Nextel. I'm looking at Sprint since it's the same price range that we're used to with Cingular. I wonder if Sprint is a decent company to work with? I've heard horror stories about Cingular, but since I've not really been looking around, I don't know about the other carriers.